While many filmmakers and writers craft stories and worlds from their imagination, documentary makers uncover compelling narratives in our own reality—stories that are worth sharing. Documentaries cover a diverse range of topics, ensuring that there is something for everyone to find interesting, if they take the time to look. To help kickstart your search, we are highlighting some of the most intriguing documentaries and docuseries released in the first half of 2025.
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Watch on Jio Hotstar
Directed by Ahmir Thompson, professionally known as “Questlove,” Sly Lives! explores the personal and professional journey of Sly and the Family Stone, an American band. Led by singer-songwriter Sly Stone, Sly and the Family Stone was active from 1966 to 1983, and was the first major American rock band to have a racially integrated and mixed-gender group of members. The documentary not only examines the ups and downs of Sly Stone’s career, but also the difficulties he faced in the industry, specifically as a Black artist.
No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski
Watch on Jio Hotstar
In this docuseries, Canadian chef and actor Antoni Porowski explores the origins of food from around the world with his celebrity guests. Each episode follows Antoni and his guest as they choose a family recipe, and then travel to try and trace the recipe to its roots. From Italy to Senegal, Germany to South Korea, No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski is a journey from a modern love for food to ancestral roots and culinary heritage.
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing
Watch on Netflix
The three-part docuseries follows the child social media star, Piper Rockelle, and her mother and manager, Tiffany Smith. Having been successful in the child pageantry circuit in America, Piper was taken to social media and YouTube by her mother, along with other children, collectively called “The Sqaud.” The docuseries examines the allegations made against Tiffany Smith in a 2022 lawsuit, which was settled without admission of any liability, and raises questions on the ethics of exposing children to social media. What is the line between allowing kids to express themselves and profiting off the attention they garner? Can monetized content be anything other than exploitative? Can exposing children to social media ever be ok, considering the amount of data present on the existence of predators in audiences?
Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain
Watch on CNN
In a trip across her homeland, Eva Longoria explores cities like Barcelona and Madrid in this docuseries. Through the six episodes, Eva travels across Spain, discovering the culture and traditions of the place as she mingles with locals, as well as the cuisine and culinary heritage of the country. As she travels and learns more about the culture, she connects with her Mexican-American heritage.
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds
Watch on Netflix
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds follows a group of six F-16 pilots as they train to put together an extraordinary aerial demonstration. The documentary highlights the difficulty of the demonstration, as each pilot must unlearn every bit of safety training they have received to accomplish the formations required. As the team makes its way through winter training at Spaceport America, the audience can feel every bit of tension and anxiety as the pilots learn to detach themselves from their instincts to put on an incredible show.
F1: The Academy
Watch on Netflix
The F1 Academy is a Formula 4 level racing championship designed to encourage female talent in one of the world’s most demanding sports. The all-female championship is the focus of F1: The Academy, a docuseries following the women competing from various teams across seven episodes. The series follows the best of the best as they fight to make it to the F1 grid, including Bianca Bustamante (McLaren), Abbi Pulling (Alpine), Amna (RB) and Hamda (Red Bull) Al Qubaisi, and many more.
Words Ayushie Shahane
6.06.2025